CH 75

I lifted my heavy eyelids.

Suradel’s worried voice could be heard through the daze.

“…Lia, are you awake?”

I shed tears without answering his question.

Like a broken faucet, the tears didn’t stop.

Happy memories. The first meeting with a warm father.

It would have been better if I hadn’t woken up from the dream.

The reality was so cruel.

When I woke up, I was a human again.

But the feelings eating away at my psyche would soon drive me back to being a penguin.

I grabbed my head with both hands and trembled.

My muscles stiffened from the extreme tension. A vein rose in the neck.

“No one recognized me. Both Iprus and Dad. When they saw me as a human, they got angry. I am not loved in this way.”

It was painful.

I felt like running away somewhere.

“Dad doesn’t like me. As a human being, I wouldn’t even think of me as a daughter. I, I…”

“Lia.”

“It’s not worth existing any longer…”

“Lia!”

I stared at Suradel, stunned. I swear it was the first time I had seen him scream out loud.

He held my face firmly with both hands and made me look at him.

“I recognized you. I recognized you when you became human.”

“…….”

“How could you say such a thing easily in front of me?”

I was flustered.

‘Why do you care what I say.’

‘And why do you have such a hurt face.’

‘How dare you know how I feel.’

“What I love is neither Lia the penguin nor Lia the human.”

Suradel enunciated each word with strength as if to engrave it completely.

“I love the person you are.”

I stared blankly at Suradel.

“Whatever demibeast you are. Whether you are a pure-blooded human or an animal that has not been humanized. I love you no matter what form you are.”

I thought my heart would never get better.

‘Why am I so reassured by your every word?’

I gripped his collar tightly and lowered my head to bury my face in his chest.

For a moment, I felt Suradel’s body stiffened.

I pierced the dagger as I listened to his pounding heart.

“Su, even if I don’t love you, will you still love me?”

I knew it was selfish.

It was okay if everyone pointed at me and called me a bad girl.

But, at this moment, I had to hear his answer.

Suradel slowly brushed my back.

“Lia. I… Even if you hate me, I will love you forever.”

I always thought his obsession was annoying, but today was different.

He was willing.

The fact that someone would love me forever.

After hearing his answer, I continued to ask questions.

“If I don’t try to do anything for you, will you still love me?”

“Even if I get a serious illness and can’t do anything, you abandon me?”

“Even if everyone in the world hates me, will you be on my side?”

The questions were long and many, but Suradel’s answers were concise.

“Yes.”

But if his answer felt very trustworthy, am I being too naive?

My tears quickly wet Suradel’s shirt.

“Lord Reynos, he behaved like that because he didn’t know you’re Adelia.”

“Su, but…”

“Even if Lord Reynos really hates you for becoming a human. The value of your existence does not change.”

“…….”

Really.

‘Am I really the one who deserves to be loved by someone?’

‘I’m so selfish.’

‘I’m so useless.’

“Lia, you don’t know that your presence is my salvation.”

I couldn’t believe it.

‘…I am Suradel’s salvation?’

His arm that held me was full of strength.

A voice so low that the back of the neck shivered flowed into my ear.

“Therefore… Stop letting it distress you.”

His pleading voice.

A gentle, patting hand.

At the same time as stabilizing my heart, strangely, it made my heart beat faster again.

The unfamiliar feeling was baffling.

However, it was definitely not a bad feeling.

In his arms, I left the thoughts about where my pounding heart and elevated emotions came from behind.

For a long time.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

The day Lia returned to the center from the Weil territory.

At some point, Theodore, who was on the verge of death in his bed, felt his shattering headache subside and his mood lifted.

The scent from the window left open for ventilation stung his nose.

An incredibly sweet scent.

At first, he wondered if Suradel had come to the Wulf mansion.

So desperately, he closed his eyes, ignoring the sensation.

However, the effect of the imprint was more powerful than expected.

Theodore was able to endure even the most severe pain.

But the fact that the imprinted one was near him made his defense collapse.

He held on and endured, and eventually opened his eyes to find Suradel.

He was going to ask him to get out of here.

However, what came into Theodore’s field of view was not Suradel, but someone else.

A small, slender woman with dark hair in a maid’s uniform.

The moment she entered his sight, he instinctively realized that she was the ‘real’ person he had imprinted on.

Badump, badump.

His heart started beating incredibly fast.

Then, looking at the floor, she lifted her head and met his eyes with her own.

The surprised expression on her face was lovely; it drove him crazy.

In a panic, she fell from the tree.

Surprised, Theodore jumped up without realizing it and ran to the window.

But he was worried for nothing, as she landed safely on the ground.

She then raised her head, turning her gaze to the window exactly where he was.

Theodore, in that brief moment when her eyes met his, his arrogance made him think.

Did she come to see him?

Did she hear rumors that he’s dying? Or, did she, like him, have strong memories of their encounter in the hunting competition?

No.

It didn’t matter.

The most important thing now was that she was the one he had incompletely imprinted on, not the goddamn Suradel.

Theodore felt as if he had come back from the brink of death.

But that relief was short-lived.

After making brief eye contact, the woman started to run away.

Theodore, surprised by that, was obsessed with the idea of ​​getting her.

‘I can’t miss it like this.’

‘How will I meet her again? How will I clear up the misunderstanding?’

Without getting out of the door, he immediately jumped over the window and reached the ground.

Thud.

Thanks to the steady landing, he was able to begin running with all his might.

Although his physical condition had been in tatters lately due to the incomplete imprint…

Now that she was nearby, he got enough energy to run around, if not completely returned to normal.

The distance from her soon narrowed.

It seemed her speed was slow because she was running with a cumbersome long skirt. 

Then, perhaps losing her balance, she fell forcefully into the dirt.

Startled, Theodore sped up.

And.

“Darling, come here!!!”

As she shouted some incomprehensible words, Theodore’s hand touched her arm.

A thrill arose.

The ecstasy he had experienced during the previous incomplete imprint ran down his spine.

However, there was a clear difference from before. His heart was full enough to feel tight.

Yes.

This was a complete imprint.

Pak-!

Before he could fully feel the sensation, someone violently hit his hand.

Suradel.

He appeared out of nowhere and hugged the woman as if to protect her.

Then he glared at him as if he was the one responsible for hurting her.

“Theodore, explain the situation.”

Only then did Theodore’s reason return.

‘The woman is closely related to Suradel… No, it seems like they are close.’

He was in a bad mood

Suradel’s hand holding her was irritating.

The fear of Suradel had already been covered by the imprint, and had long since disappeared.

Suddenly, it occurred to him that when she called Suradel, she used the title ‘Darling’.

“Rather than that, the title ‘darling’ earlier, what does that mean? It’s very annoying.”

“It’s as you have heard.”

It seemed to imply that they were lovers. It was when Theodore felt a deep sense of disappointment.

He wanted to hurry out of this place, shutting Suradel’s mouth.

“Don’t be silly, let’s go. I don’t feel well.”

The two quickly disappeared, leaving Theodore behind.

In the space where she and Suradel disappeared, Theodore sighed.

Ha.

To think that the person he imprinted was related to Suradel.

But Theodore was a hundred times better now than when he misunderstood that he had imprinted on Suradel.

“Even if they’re real lovers, I can take her away.”

Theodore’s eyes were shining brightly like those of a beast eyeing on its prey.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Theodore immediately went to the office.

“Mother.”

When Theodore, who should be sick, came to find her on foot, Isabel was surprised and hurriedly asked:

“…Theo? How did you get here?”

Now that she looked at it, his face didn’t belong to someone who was sick. Theodore had the face of death just this morning.

The words that came out of Theodore’s mouth were even more surprising.

“I have completed the imprint that was incomplete.”

“What, what…?”

“I found the partner. No, it would be more accurate to say she came to me.”

Theodore’s eyes burned strongly as he informed Isabel that he had succeeded in completing the imprint.

He learned that his imprinting partner was not Suradel, and he had fixed the incomplete imprinting, so he had no reason to hesitate any longer.

‘I will win her at all costs.’